Gas Interconnection Poland-Lithuania (GIPL)
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Gas Interconnection Poland-Lithuania (GIPL) is an operating cross-border pipeline between Poland and Lithuania.
Location
The pipeline's route begins at Rembelszczyzna gas compressor station located in Warsaw, Poland, before traveling to Jauniunai gas compressor station situated near Vilnius in Lithuania.[1][2][3]
Project Details
- Operator: Gaz-System (Poland), AB Amber Grid (Lithuania)[4]
- Owner: Gaz-System (Poland), AB Amber Grid (Lithuania)[4]
- Parent: Gaz-System (Poland), EPSO-G (Lithuania)[4]
- Proposed capacity: 2.4 billion cubic meters per year
- Length: 508 km / 315.66 miles[2][5]
- Diameter: 28 inches[4]
- Cost: €566 million (US$645 million)[7]
- Financing: Grants of €10.1 million[8] and €266.3 million[9] from the Connecting Europe Facility; a €65 million loan from the European Investment Bank[10]
- Status: Operating[11]
- Start Year: 2022[11]
- Identifiers:
- SciGrig_Gas IGG: "INET_PL_9080", "INET_PL_9081", "INET_PL_9082"[12]
Background
In 2018, proposals for the pipeline stated that it would connect the gas transmission systems of Poland and Lithuania. According to Hydrocarbons Technology, as of April 2018, the 700mm diameter pipeline will be 534 km long, with 357 km lying in Poland and the remaining 177 km in Lithuania. The bi-directional pipeline will have a capacity to deliver 2.4 bcm per year from Poland to Lithuania and 1 bcm per year from Lithuania to Poland.[13]
The total construction cost of the project is estimated to be €566 million (US$645 million), which is being funded by the Baltic States, private investment, the European Investment Bank, and the European Commission under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).[7][13]
Construction works were planned to begin in the second half of 2018 and finalized by the end of 2021.[14] The project promoters announced that construction began in January 2020.[15] In November 2020, Argus Media reported that Amber Grid and Gaz-System are expecting a delayed commissioning of the project to 2022-2023.[16]
According to Amber Grid, as of June 2021, 90% of the construction of the Lithuanian section was complete: "almost all parts of the 165 km pipeline have been welded, 102 km of the pipeline have been filled with gas and hydraulic testing of the remaining part of the pipeline is underway."[17]
In October 2021, a symbolic Gold Weld was welded on the border of Poland and Lithuania connecting the pipeline sections in both countries. Construction work in Lithuania was reported to be 95% complete, and 90% complete in Poland, with the GIPL expected to be operational some time in the 2nd or 3rd quarter of 2022.[18]
Construction of the project in Lithuania was completed by the end of 2021 and the entire gas pipeline up to the border with Poland has been filled with gas. Full commissioning of the project is slated for the first half of 2022. The under construction Ostroleka power station in north-east Poland is expected to receive gas from the pipeline, with source gas coming from the Klaipeda LNG Terminal in Lithuania.[19]
In March 2022, Lithuania announced that the pipeline would start operating on May 1, 2022.[20]
On May 1, 2022, GIPL became operational with gas flowing from Lithuania to Poland. Nemunas Biknius, the CEO of Amber Grid, said: "Having the opportunity to import and export gas through the GIPL interconnector, Lithuania and Poland have increased not only their own energy security, but also that of the Baltic States and Finland as a region, which is especially important in the current geopolitical conditions."[11]
Projects of Common Interest
The European Commission approved the project for inclusion on the Projects of Common Interest (PCI) list, meaning the project can receive public funding through grants under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). Its identification number is 8.5.[3]
According to the European Commission, "The objective of the PCI 8.5 'Poland-Lithuania interconnection', currently known as GIPL, is to establish a physical interconnection between the Polish and Lithuanian gas transmission systems. On the Polish side, GIPL includes: a gas pipeline between Hoowczyce and the PL-LT border (gas pipeline length of approx. 357 km, DN 700); the construction of a new compressor station in Gustorzyn (approx. 16 MW of installed power without spare); the extension, modernization and connection of the pipeline to the Hoowczyce node and the compressor station; as well as related necessary improvements of the Hoowczyce compressor station. On the Lithuanian side, GIPL consists of: a gas pipeline between the PL-LT border and Jauniunai (approx. 165 km, DN 700); the construction of gas pressure reduction and metering station(s) located near the PL-LT border in Lithuania aimed at decreasing the Maximum Operating Pressure (MOP) of the pipeline (from 8.4 MPa down to 5.4 MPa, preliminary max capacity 275,000 Nm3/h with a possibility of extension up to 468,000 Nm3/h). Overall, the new gas pipeline will have a capacity of 2.4 bcm/year in the direction PL to LT and up to 1.9 bcm/year in the direction LT to PL."
Financing
The project has received a CEF grant of €10.1 million for preparatory works[8], and a further CEF grant of €266.3 million for construction costs. In July 2020, the European Investment Bank signed a €65 million loan agreement with AB Amber Grid to finance the construction of the Lithuanian section of the pipeline.[10]
Articles and resources
References
- ↑ Diettrich, Pluta, Medrjoubi (July 23, 2020). "The combined IGG gas transmission network data set". DLR Institute for Networked Energy Systems.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas (October 2020). "TYNDP 2020 - MAP – Transmission" (PDF). ENTSOG. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Pipe down: Gas companies' control over billions in EU subsidies". Global Witness. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas (2020). "TYNDP - Annex A - Projects Tables RPJ007_NS_2020 - entsog". ENTSOG. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Krasimira MARINOVA (2020-12-02). "Gas interconnector Poland - Lithuania: works in progress - Innovation and Networks Executive Agency - European Commission". Innovation and Networks Executive Agency - European Commission. Retrieved 2021-08-24.
- ↑ "GAZ-SYSTEM S.A.: Poland-Lithuania". en.gaz-system.pl. Retrieved 2021-08-24.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Ten Year Network Development Plan 2020 - Annex A - Projects Tables, ENTSOG, accessed Dec. 14, 2021
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Preparatory works for the Gas Interconnection Poland-Lithuania up to building permission(s) obtainment, European Commission, accessed Dec. 3, 2020
- ↑ Construction of the Gas Interconnection Poland-Lithuania (GIPL) including supporting infrastructure, European Commission, accessed Dec. 3, 2020
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 European loan for gas interconnection project between Poland and Lithuania, European Investment Bank Projects, Jul. 1, 2020
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 GIPL gas interconnection between Poland and Lithuania is launched, Amber Grid press release, May 2, 2022
- ↑ Diettrich, Pluta, Medrjoubi (July 23, 2020). "The combined IGG gas transmission network data set". DLR Institute for Networked Energy Systems.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ↑ 13.0 13.1 Gas Interconnection Poland–Lithuania, Hydrocarbons Technology, accessed April, 2018
- ↑ Polish-Slovak gas interconnection closer to realisation, The Slovak Spectator, Apr. 30, 2018
- ↑ Gas Interconnection Poland-Lithuania (GIPL) Amber Grid website, accessed Jan. 11, 2020
- ↑ "Lithuania, Poland gauge market interest in gas link", Argus Media, Nov. 4, 2020
- ↑ Amber Grid. "Completion of the largest archaeological excavations along the GIPL gas pipeline route opens a new phase of research in Lithuanian history". GAS INTERCONNECTION POLAND–LITHUANIA (GIPL). Archived from the original on August 23, 2021. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
- ↑ AB Amber Grid: The GIPL Gold Weld marks the connection of the Lithuanian and Polish gas transmission systems, Market Screener, Oct. 22, 2021
- ↑ Completion of the construction of the Poland-Lithuania gas pipeline on the Lithuanian side, CIRE.pl Energy Market Information Center, Jan. 18, 2022
- ↑ Denmark resumes construction of Norway-Poland gas link, EURACTIV, Mar. 11, 2022
